Review- Hilton Sedona Resort at Bell Rock

After about a 2 hour easy drive from Phoenix, we arrive at the Hilton Sedona Resort around 11 am. Parking lot was pretty empty at this time and we were the only people in the lobby. We already had a suite booked, but at the counter I told the front desk person we are hoping for an early check in and also if there are any Diamond upgrades. He looked and said they were sold out for the evening of red rock views, but he had two rooms available now that were both “larger” suites. We picked one on the ground floor hoping it had a nice walkout balcony. He gave us our water and informed us we would get a $28 credit for breakfast only which would cover 2 continental breakfasts. I wish he would have gone over some of the resort offerings in more detail. Since they charge a resort fee, what am I getting for it?

Walked down the aisle to our room. We walked in and it was a very nicely appointed room. It was standard size so I am not sure what was “larger” about it. (I went online to check what other rooms may be available and they only had standard rooms left for booking) The family room had a nice pull out couch with a chaise on the side, a nice automatic fireplace, outlets in the lamps, large TV, 4 person table, Fridge, and microwave. It reminded me of most Embassy Suite rooms. The pull out couch was one of the nicest beds we have seen. It was not your standard spring mattress but was foam and adults would sleep OK on it. The patio off of the room just had a view of a berm, and the walkout didn’t really go anywhere. It was also off of the family room and I prefer them to be off of the master room so you can sneak out at night and have a glass of wine while the kids are sleeping.

The master bedroom was fairly basic with a king bed and TV, There was an entrance to the bathroom from both the bedroom and the family room which is a nice benefit with kids.

We noticed it was fairly hot in the room so we set it down to 64 to cool it off. I don’t think the room probably ever got below 72-74 degrees though.

While we didn’t have a room with a view, just walking around the resort and parking lots had great views to be seen.

Our kids had already seen the pool so that’s where the wanted to go. At around noon, there was only about 2 other older people there so it was nice to pretty much have the whole pool to ourselves. It was setup pretty nice with a fairly shallow easy entry pool on the bottom, and a little deeper pull up top. As well as a hot tub off to the side. While the kids were swimming, I drove down to an IGA that was a 1/2 mile away to get some lunch for us and a few snacks for the next day. While there are signs at the pool that say no outside food or beverage, there was some nice common areas outside the pool that we at our quick lunch at before going back to the pool. They had music playing, but it was hard to hear by the pool. They also had ping pong which our kids played for like an hour. They had a bar and restaurant there, and we had a few drinks in the afternoon. They had large mixed drinks in a “pitcher” for $25, and refills were $19. This was about the size of 3 regular sized drinks, so not a horrible deal as regular drinks were about $11.

After several hours of swimming, and only a handful of other families coming to the pool, we went offsite to explore and eat dinner. We noted at the bar pool they had fire pits setup and a s’mores kit available to purchase. We came back at about 6 to eat s’mores and while the pool was open, the fire pits were off and bar area closed. We went to the restaurant and had a s’mores cookie n I cream, but it wasn’t the same.

We ate breakfast at their restaurant the next morning and it is brand new and working out a few kinks. Nobody really knew what our $28 would cover. There is a lot of bar seating, but not a lot of just table seating as their outdoor terrace isn’t complete yet. Our kids ate the full buffet, and I had some delicious western style eggs benedict off the menu. I didnt get the continental breakfast as nobody at the restaurant could tell me what was included in that, and I love eggs benedict anyways. Overall we only ended up paying $4 for 2 kids full buffets and my eggs. We just took an apple back to the room for my wife was she was getting ready in the morning. The full buffet looked good, but a lil small compared to other Hiltons.

We asked for a late checkout, but was only give until noon due to them being sold out. That wasn’t a problem though as we went for a hike, came back around 11 to clean up, packup, and eat some leftovers for lunch and then packed up and went back into Sedona for a few hours before going back to Phoenix.

The resort isn’t in “downtown” Sedona and it can take 10-20 minutes to get there. There is however several shops and restaurants within walking distance.

For being a resort and having to pay $20 resort fee, I was a little disappointed in the amenities. They had a pool (so does every other Hilton), and a ping pong table. I asked their concierge for some Sedona tips and all they wanted to do was sell me an expensive tour when all I wanted were some maps. They did have a nice hiking store and they were helpful with some maps though.

The base room rate for the suite was $290, plus the $20 resort fee. I also used a AMEX deal and received a $50 credit for spending over $300 at a Hilton. I received about 12,500 points through Hilton Honors. The price wasn’t great but we wanted a suite and it was just for one night.